Beggar's Opera, The

Beggar's Opera, The

a funny opera by John Gay, first produced in 1728. It tells the story of a thief called Macheath, who is sent to Newgate prison, where he meets a woman called Lucy and makes his wife Polly jealous. A modern opera called the Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht, is based on this.

Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Advanced Learner's Dictionary.